Animalia Life

Macropygia unchall
SUBFAMILY
Columbinae
TAXONOMY
Columba unchall Wagler, 1827. Three subspecies.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Long-tailed cuckoo dove, larger Indian cuckoo dove; French: Phasianelle onchall; German: Bindenschwanztaube; Spanish: Tortola-Cuco Unchal.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
16 in (41 cm); 6 oz (170 g). Long tail and upright stance gives a cuckoo-like appearance. Upper parts barred black with chestnut. Display plumage iridescent green and violet.
DISTRIBUTION
Southeast Asia.
HABITAT
Dense broad-leaved forest.
BEHAVIOR
Defends fruiting trees by chasing competitors. While displaying, the male inflates his crop so that it reaches the ground, but the rear is held straight. In display, the bird flies up steeply with clapping wings and glides down in a spiral.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
“May hang upside down from a tree and swing out towards a berry, otherwise out of reach. A wide variety of seeds, berries and drupes.” (del Hoyo et al., 1999).
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
The nest is a large platform of twigs in a tree. Lays one egg, slightly glossy or cream-colored, occasionally with a small number of olive-yellow speckles and spots. Incubation 16 days, fledging after 19 days.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.

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